Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Racism, Ayn Rand

In the piece Rand talks about racism, and how racism is a bad thing, and we should get rid of it. She talks about where racism originates, through groups of people. It is one "group" thinking that a the other "group" is different, because they have a different ancestry they must be different. Rand wants us to realize that this is a stupid reason, and that we are being racist when we do this. Rand also talks about a group think idea, if we think of ourselves in with a group of people, we are being racist, we should think of ourselves as individuals not belonging in a set of people. The funniest thing that Rand brings up is the fact that the "Negro" leaders are trying to fight racism, by being racist. They want special rights or being a different race, and this is just bringing them back to being racists against others. Overall I feel that she is trying to say do not be racist because someone else has relatives, leaders, friends, or teachers that were a racist. She is saying to solve it and do not hold that against them think of everyone as individuals not as groups and we will be good!

Overall I found the piece an interesting way to look at racism, and why we have it. I liked how in the beginning she explained sort of how it all started, then led off to more recent events. One part I got a little confused with was the with the conservatives, and liberals, I think I understand what she was trying to get to but I was lost with how they are being racist. I also do not know how these views led into the Negro leaders being racist. But I found this part to be humorous because she did prove a point they are trying to get rid of racism by creating new racism. But overall I liked most of the ideas she laid out for me, and I understood most of them, and noticed some of them that are still around today.